As far as the Movistar Yamaha’s performance at the Circuit de Jerez in Spain goes, after the Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana, the meeting might as well be written off, a line drawn under, a lesson to be learnt, a meeting to forget, or whatever they want to call it, as they come away with disappointing results at the fourth round of the MotoGP.
Sixth for Vinales on home turf whereas Rossi finished 10th
Maverick Vinales made the most of a bad situation, finishing the race up in sixth position. Nine times world champion, Valentino Rossi on the other hand had to settle for 10th, and to add to the disappointment, the championship leader whose lead is just two points over Vinales now, he ended up being the fourth Yamaha on track.
After starting from fourth on the grid for Vinales, and seventh on the grid for Rossi, the two riders struggled greatly with the challenges they faced due to a lack of grip from the Michelin Power Slicks. Both riders lost positions at the start of the race, and went backwards down the ranks. Once Vinales got heat into his tyres however he was able to grasp some places back, but Rossi had no choice but to just focus on finishing the race.
Towards the end of the race, Vinales was battling with Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso on track; unusual as the Ducati is not normally suited to the Circuit de Jerez. This was after he had overtaken both Dovizioso and Rossi in one manoeuvre. He almost met the limit however and had to make a decision to settle for points over positions and finished up sixth.
Strange day for Vinales
Vinales felt that the Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana was a “strange day” as during the morning warm-up where he was the quickest man on track he “was feeling really good” mentioning that he was “so precise in all the breaking points”, but then during the race in the afternoon he “didn’t have the same feeling”.
The Spaniard spoke of how he “felt like [he was going to crash in nearly every corner” and so he said it was “a really strange and difficult day” for the Movistar Yamaha team. He confirmed that it had been “difficult for both sides of the box”.
Knowing it was a disappointing result in Jerez he said, “We have to think about what happened” and the plan is to “try to improve for the next races” as he is aware that they “lost some important points for the championship”.
Many issues with the M1 for Rossi
Rossi appeared deflated as he refrained from the battles he would usually engage in on track. It was clear that something wasn’t right as rookie, Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech3) passed with ease. Then moments later, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) caught him and passed him also as it turns out the Spaniard was lapping 0.7 seconds quicker than the Italian.
Rossi admitted that it was a “very difficult race after a difficult weekend”. He confirmed that he “never had a good feeling with the bike and the tyres”. Aware of the issues they “tried to work a lot” focusing especially on trying to “fix the spin and acceleration” only to find that “for the race [they] did worse”. He explained how they “tried to modify it a bit” but he knew he was “also in trouble with the front”. So, in the end he “had to slow down a lot” as he experienced “a lot of vibration”.
He knew it was “OK to arrive right at the end”, finishing the race and salvaging some points, however he declared that it was “a difficult weekend for the whole team”. He admitted that they “expected to be stronger and more competitive at this track” judging by the “results of last year” where Rossi won the 2016 round.
How the championship looks
Despite the result, both Movistar Yamaha riders are still leading the championship, which therefore means that the team are leading the manufacturers’ championship also. Rossi is leading with 62 points after collecting six points in Jerez, whereas Vinales collected 10 which means he is now just two points behind Rossi in second with 60 points.
The double success from Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa means they have close the gap in both championships. Race winner, Pedrosa is fourth now with 52 points, and Marquez’s 20 points mean he is just four points off the leaders in third with 58 points in total.